Week 30: Practice: Professional Online Social Networks

           What is worth my time? vs  What is my time worth?                                                     

                                                                               

                                                                                            C2.staticflickr.com

Two weeks of school holidays may seem like the perfect time to relax on a white sandy beach and to swim in the crystal clear waters of Samoa...but for me, it’s time to take stock and re-organise my professional teaching life.  

Up until now, some may suggest I have taken a rather lackadaisical approach to how I choose to spend my time (and my money) keeping up-to-date with new curriculum resources and upskilling in emerging technology for my classroom.  In the past I would wait for the principal of my school to help me decide/ approve what professional development (PD) he/she felt would be best for the school/ me.

To be fair, I’ve wasted a lot of time on social media:  “pinning” for hours creative ideas that I knew I would never have the time or opportunity to use in class; wondering why people’s tweets were in my feed that I don’t follow;  and wishing I had never joined the teachers community on my personal facebook because there are some Saturday mornings I just don’t want to think about school.

Well, that was until MindLab happened to my brain.  I swear, pennies are dropping as I write this.  I have come to the realisation that teachers are ultimately in charge of their own professional learning.  I know some of you are wondering what the heck took me so long to figure out such a simple concept. (In my defence, I also thought penguins mate for life.)  Obviously I was in need a bit of guidance and MindLab opened doors to ideas that now I just can’t (and don’t want to) close. So here I am, spending my last few free days before Term 4 begins, redesigning my professional learning pathway.  And this time it doesn’t involve adding to the list ‘Jobs I’d like Better than Teaching’, or buying lotto tickets from obscure shops around the North Island. (‘Cause we all know those are the lucky shops - going to Te Teko anyone?)

https://teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz/what-social-media

This week I have been trying to wrap my head around how social media, used as a tool for education, is legitimised by Etienne Wenger’s communities of practice (CoP) and Albert Bandura’s social learning theory and why, I have just realised, I have been doing professional social media ineffectively for such a long time.  

The question is, now that I am armed with this new mindset, what am I going to do about it?  And how do I create this professional knowledge and understanding that Melhuish refers to?   Today I have the ability to learn what I want, when I want, from whomever I want and usually for free using social media.   By simply taking a more critical look at how I self-direct my professional learning, I now have the opportunity to take advantage of the ‘collective intelligence’ of the people I choose to surround myself with - be it face-to-face or online.

Wenger (2000) suggests that people learn when they actively participate in communities of practice (CoP) by making connections, co-constructing ideas or solving problems that increase the engagement of the community.  People learn from each other by watching how others participate in the group .  The concept of social learning theory, Bandura (1977),  helps explain why these virtual CoPs can create deeper learning between the teachers who build effective learning relationships with each other .  

Social media platforms like Google +, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube and blogs are informal ways I can, as a teacher, create my personal learning network (PLN) and interact with other educators and experts from around the world creating my own communities of practice.  

http://www.onlinecollege.org/2012/09/24/the-social-media-guide-growing-your-personal-learning-network/

Understanding the importance of fostering peer relationships is imperative as I create my PLN.  I can’t do this alone.  I’ve tried that already . Collaboration and learning are a two way street and in the past have been one of the biggest barriers to me capitalising on making my learning more personal.  My future is going to be full of putting myself out there.  Social media is the toolbox that can connect me on a global scale to help me figure out what I think will help make me a more innovative and relevant 21st century educator.  

Will all this connectivity make me a better teacher?  The Education Council New Zealand’s website says, “A teacher who is both aware of social media and a competent and confident user will be a role model for their learners and encourage them to be good digital citizens”.  My professional obligations have always been to the students I teach.  I believe that as I develop my PLN it will have a positive effect on the way I will teach and how I will incorporate 21st century skills that my students will need now and in the future.

Besides, the idea professional development in my pj’s is undeniably appealing.

References:

Bandura, A. (1977) Social Learning Theory. New York: General Learning Press; Retrieved from: http://www.esludwig.com/uploads/2/6/1/0/26105457/bandura_sociallearningtheory.pdf

Education Council New Zealand  (n.d.).  Commitment to learners .  Blog . Retrieved October 6, 2016: https://teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz/guidelines/commitment-learners

Melhuish, K.(2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators’ professional learning. Master Thesis. The University of Waikato. Retrieved From: fromhttp://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/8482/thesis.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

Wenger, E. (2000) Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from: http://wenger-trayner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/09-10-27-CoPs-and-systems-v2.01.pdf